BY DAVE SUAN ALBARADO
Former Tagbilaran City Mayor Atty. Dan Neri Lim described a Supreme Court petition challenging congressional election results as a “moonshot,” while the winning candidate remained unperturbed by sweeping fraud allegations that have exposed potential irregularities in Comelec’s automated voting system.
Lawyer Jordan Pizarras, congressman candidate for Bohol first district congressional race in the May 2025 elections, filed a comprehensive petition for certiorari and mandamus with the Supreme Court on June 17, 2025, seeking to nullify the proclamation of John Geesnell “Baba” Yap II as winner of Bohol’s first district congressional race.
The petition requests a manual recount, preservation of voting machines and ballots, and disciplinary action against Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia.
The case has drawn attention beyond Bohol politics, raising fundamental questions about the integrity of the Philippines’ automated election system and the conduct of the country’s top election official.
Lim, speaking over Ardy Araneta-Batoy’s DYTR radio program “Newsmakers ug Uban Pa,” acknowledged the petition’s long odds while defending the decision to bypass traditional election protest procedures.
Despite supporting outgoing Congressman Atty. Edgar Chatto over Yap, who is his nephew, Lim praised Pizarras’ strategy of going directly to the Supreme Court.
“While the Supreme Court often rules on defects in Comelec decisions, the issue at hand is highly technical and involves factors beyond the court’s expertise,” Lim said, noting that election protests rarely yield positive results due to lack of successful precedents.
Software Discrepancies
The petition centers on what Pizarras describes as fundamental violations of election law involving the software used in Automated Counting Machines.
According to the filing, Comelec used software version 3.5.0 during the May 2025 elections instead of the certified version 3.4.0 that underwent mandatory review under Republic Act No. 8436.
The certified version 3.4.0 was only approved on April 30, 2025, just 13 days before the election, rather than the legally required 90 days prior.
More critically, Pizarras alleges the actual software deployed on election day was version 3.5.0, which had not undergone any certification process.
“The software is the one that will instruct how the machine behaves in terms of counting or processing or transmission of votes including the printing of election returns,” Pizarras explained in a radio interview.
“The source code of the software should be readable by humans in order for it to be certified by experts,” he said.
IT expert and lawyer Harold Respicio, who accompanied Pizarras in filing the petition, questioned this software substitution as potentially illegal.
Respicio argued that the use of uncertified software opened possibilities for manipulation, as transparency servers received information from machines running unverified code.
“The use of an intermediary server was illegal, as the law requires data to be sent directly to transparency servers,” Respicio said, pointing out what he described as a fundamental breach of election protocols.
Unauthorized IT Servers
Beyond software concerns, the petition alleges that Comelec illegally routed election returns through unauthorized intermediary servers before transmission to mandated transparency servers.
This process, according to Pizarras, violated legal requirements for direct, automatic transmission of voting data.
Instead of data flowing directly from ACMs to transparency servers as mandated by law, Pizarras claims Comelec diverted information to what Garcia allegedly termed “data center 3,” where the data was “cleansed” before final transmission.
“The diversion done by the Comelec was illegal,” Pizarras said. “There should not have been an intervention of any kind in the first place, and the changes made should have been published for public awareness, but there was none.”
Lim supported these technical concerns, noting that while the Supreme Court has jurisdiction over Comelec procedural defects, the highly technical nature of the allegations would require expert testimony.
He noted that the only witnesses to the alleged irregularities would be the machines themselves and Comelec personnel.
The former mayor expressed hope that the Supreme Court would compel Comelec to explain its processes and justify the use of intermediary systems, potentially setting important precedents for future elections.
Corruption Allegations
Perhaps the most damaging aspect of Pizarras’ petition involves detailed corruption allegations against Garcia stemming from a private meeting on October 15, 2024.
Pizarras, seeking assurance that election laws would be properly observed, instead encountered what he described as a shocking demand for payment.
According to Pizarras’ sworn statement, Garcia asked about his district and the number of registered voters. Upon learning there were 300,000 registered voters in the first district, Garcia allegedly made his demand.
“Anong distrito ka? Ah first district, chairman. O ilan ang registered voters nyo, ah 300,000, ingon dayon sya [Garcia] o familiar naman tayo dito, tayo-tayo lang naman, meron ka na bang P300 million,” Pizarras recounted, recreating the dialogue between himself and Garcia.
The amount represents roughly 1,000 pesos per registered voter, far exceeding the legal campaign spending limit of three pesos per voter established under Philippine election law.
Pizarras claimed he was so shocked by the demand that he “fell from his seat” and was unable to ask what the P300 million pesos were intended for.
Crucially, Pizarras maintains that another person witnessed this conversation and that Garcia was speaking in a serious tone, not joking.
The allegation forms the basis for his request that the Supreme Court initiate disbarment proceedings against Garcia for “gross violation of the Code of Professional Responsibility.”
Questionable Visits in Bohol
The petition documents several visits by Garcia to Bohol that Pizarras characterizes as irregular and potentially compromising.
On February 17, 2025, Garcia made an unannounced visit to the province, followed by IT personnel on February 18.
Bohol Comelec staff were reportedly unaware of these visits, raising questions about their purpose and authorization.
More significantly, Pizarras alleges Garcia met with political families after the elections, with evidence posted on social media before being subsequently removed.
Pizarras claims to have preserved screenshots of these interactions as evidence.
The petition also explores Garcia’s professional relationships with former Bohol politicians.
As an election lawyer, Garcia previously worked with the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal, where he allegedly interacted with former Bohol second district congressman Roberto Cajes, father in law of Baba Yap, and his chief of staff, lawyer Revsee Escobedo.
Comelec Chairman Garcia was also once a personal lawyer for former Trinidad, Bohol Mayor Judith Cajes, mother in law of Congressman-elect Baba Yap.
Escobedo later became Director IV of the National Printing Office and signed the memorandum of agreement between the printing office and Comelec for ballot production.
Pizarras questions this relationship, particularly given that Garcia also represented the former congressman’s wife in legal proceedings.
The petition raises additional issues about ballot printing, noting that the National Printing Office produced five million more ballots than the total number of registered voters nationwide, an unprecedented excess that Pizarras suggests warrants investigation.
Mysterious Financial Transactions
Adding to the web of allegations, Pizarras cited persistent rumors of Baba Yap’s family allegedly withdrawing P150 million pesos from a local bank before the elections.
While unable to verify these reports due to banking secrecy laws, he requested court intervention to investigate the alleged transaction.
The substantial sum would represent significant financial activity in the province and could potentially be connected to the alleged vote-buying or other electoral irregularities that Pizarras claims occurred during the campaign period.
The petition references an ABS-CBN News report by Job Manahan stating that an entire slate was “in hot water” for alleged election law violations, specifically mentioning Aklan and Bohol.
However, when Pizarras investigated with Comelec’s law department, he was told no such case existed against any Bohol slate.
Pizarras later met Manahan at a post-election symposium, where the reporter confirmed that Garcia himself was the source for the “hot water” information.
This revelation raised questions about Garcia’s motivations for providing unsubstantiated information to media outlets and whether such statements were intended to influence public perception.
“There is a need to ask Garcia about this issue as he alone has the answer,” Pizarras stated, suggesting the election chairman’s media strategy may have been part of a broader manipulation effort.
Unusual Voting Patterns
Lim and other observers noted unusual voting patterns that defied traditional political behavior in the province.
Entire slates achieved victories without evidence of bloc voting, and Congressman Chatto’s vote count in Tagbilaran City appeared inconsistent with historical patterns and Bohol political dynamics.
These observations, while not constituting direct evidence of fraud, contributed to growing suspicions about the election’s integrity and supported calls for closer scrutiny of the results.
Despite being named as a respondent in the petition and facing serious allegations, Yap maintained a remarkably calm demeanor.
In radio interviews, he said his commitment to serving his constituents regardless of the ongoing controversy.
“I am not bothered and not angry in any way. Filing the petition is Pizarras’ right to do so,” Baba Yap said. “I am prepared to defend myself and am committed to separating politics from my program implementation.”
The congressman-elect assured the public that he would prioritize their needs and work toward achieving his campaign goals, expressing willingness to collaborate even with those who opposed him during the election.
George Garcia, for his part, dismissed the allegations as repetitive and unfounded.
Having faced similar accusations from Pizarras in the past, the Comelec chairman opted not to engage in public debate over the claims.
“At this point, we will no longer dignify it with a response. If we answer now, they’ll just throw another issue next time—it will never end,” Garcia said, indicating fatigue with what he characterized as persistent harassment.
However, Garcia welcomed the formal legal proceedings, suggesting that proper judicial process would be preferable to continued social media discussions. “It’s good that once a case is filed, there’s at least a proper way to respond… and at least it becomes sub judice, unless a party chooses to speak after filing that kind of allegation or contention,” he stated.
Legal Strategy
Pizarras’ decision to bypass traditional election protest mechanisms and proceed directly to the Supreme Court represents an unusual legal strategy that could set important precedents for future electoral protests.
Traditional election protests through the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal often face significant procedural hurdles and lengthy delays.
The petition’s technical focus on software certification and data transmission protocols addresses fundamental questions about the reliability of the Philippines’ automated voting system, which has been in use for over a decade but continues to face scrutiny from technology experts and civil society groups.
If successful, the case could establish new standards for election technology oversight and potentially require more rigorous certification processes for voting system components.